Mechanically I reckon Yanessa Halovar is not a sorceror, she’s an Artificer (alchemist).
An Artificer can cast Wish via a scroll or artefact, and magic initiate would give her access to a couple cleric spells to help her with the running a cult part (I think we’ve only seen her use Thaumaturgy so far).
(Yes, I know NPCs aren’t bound by PC character class rules)
Please don’t tell my romantic partner, but I’ve started listening ahead on critical role campaign 4. I love my partner very much, they are my rock and my castle, but jesus, babe, we’re still in the basilisk fight.
Anyway, I’ve finished up the Soldier’s arc and here are some of my main thoughts.
I don’t care if she’s not with them anymore, Aranessa is and will always remain a Seeker in my heart.
blue hair, realizing the institution they were raised in is not what they thought,
keep having to hide my mouth in public bc I can’t stop smiling and laughing while listening to critical role and I don’t want to look crazy lol
Azune Nayar sounding very Milo J, Trueno - Gil actually, plus the two bars at the end from Niño?? I fear this is his song now to me. I will hear this and instantly think of Azune. Can’t wait for Schemers and get more on this guy 🫵
Little bummed we don’t have a new episode on the 11th anniversary. That said, breaks are important. We return with our Schemers next week though.
I’m typing this all while on a flight so this is off the top of my head and I might’ve gotten things wrong or forgotten stuff.
This got a little long, so putting it behind a read more.
What actually happened at Thjazi’s execution?
I feel like there have been multiple campaigns in which Brennan has presented a lot of information in the opening of a campaign that is then later reframed by additional context as the story goes on so even more than just a way to get all the characters together, I am paying careful attention to what seems off, or even things that seem mundane but might be seen in a different light later.
[[MORE]]We’ve already got a little bit of this in seeing that Thjazi didn’t even try to use the spell glyph and of course now that we know the characters better, we can better understand their reactions to the event.
We’ve been told that Julien was the one to defeat Thjazi and presumably capture him. It was implied that Azune was at least nearby and knows the publicly told story is not the full truth, but he is okay with not speaking up. At least so far. My guess is that Thjazi staged his defeat. I don’t think Julien was in on the plan, but I bet he figured out that Thjazi wasn’t fighting at full strength and it feels like a hollow victory. I have a suspicion that Thjazi picked Julien because of her closeness to Aranessa. While Julien seems to be disdainful of Thjazi, perhaps it doesn’t go both ways.
So then there’s a plan to facilitate Thjazi’s escape. It involved people who Thjazi hadn’t been working closely with lately. I assume Thimble or other close associates helped to set this up. Here’s one of my big questions: how much time elapsed between his capture and his execution? Thaisha had time to return with the box, word got out to Kattigan and Teor, but it seemed like the amount of time to make a plan was rushed. Maybe the time delay makes more sense if the battlefield he was captured on was distant and it took time to move the soldiers back to the city. I would really like to know who else in the city was in on the plan to rescue Thjazi. With luck we will find out as part of the Schemer’s table.
Okay so part of the plan was to make a spell glyph to get him out. So someone with magic did that for them, unless these are common enough to buy. Someone gave Thjazi the glyph and informed him of the plan. And then he saw a falcon in the sky and something changed in his mind and he knew he would actually die. Or rather he changed the plan such that he would die.
I’ve seen the theories that he saw Mara the Wing and the fact that she was there meant something had gone wrong in their plan to do work in the underworld. And if she wasn’t able to go, he had a perfect opportunity to guarantee himself a one way trip. Maybe he holds out hope that he’ll be able to return. This does match up with the curiosity about the items he is collecting, but we’ll get to that.
Slightly before the execution, Thimble is betrayed so that Casimir can steal the Stone of Nightsong and give it to House Tachonis. Because Thimble had the real glyph, I would guess that Casimir knew about that part of the plan and was able to replace it.
And then there’s the public spectacle by Yanessa. She told Wick that the Tachonis family wanted Thjazi dead, which makes sense if he is a threat to their plans in some way. But I think there might be something more in her speech. I need to rewatch it.
Thjazi’s collection
Stone of Nightsong – a relic of a celestial of Sylandri. Has a connection to the transition between life and the afterlife for the elves.
Olbalad’s coffin – a coffin for a halfling celestial. Momentarily contained a mask like Bolaire, but upon opening it, it vanished into a seemingly infinite portal of mist.
Piece of Azgra’s well? – Really don’t know much about this other than it had been a well of orc blood that the followers of Tansul stole and placed in Tannessar. And since a druid (presumably Mara) messed with it, the blood has started to go stale.
Paint for Hal – A big question mark. I’m suspicious that there’s a component of it which is significant to being in the Hallowed Round. Perhaps it also has a connection to Azgra and this specific place is relevant, or it instead has a connection to Rauwyn and the fact that it is part of a theatre is relevant.
I’m sure there’s more we don’t know about, but it is interesting that those we do know more about are related to Shapers and two are related to death in some way. This, plus the fact that Mara the Wing is usually able to pass freely between the lands of the living and the dead are making me think Thjazi is also looking to do some workings in the afterlife.
I mean, bigger theory, I do think at some point at least some of the PCs will also venture to the afterlife. We started the campaign with a death. There was mention of souls in the veil becoming crowded because they were not being ushered on. There are multiple afterlives and different paths to follow and even reincarnation. Not to mention you have a whole family of necromancers who are supposedly charged with guiding human souls to the afterlife. And burial sites have been raided? Yeah I think there’s something weird going on in the afterlife and we’ll be venturing there one way or another. (Personally, I’m kinda hoping for 2-4 characters to die and then for the players to then play those characters in the afterlife for a couple episodes before returning with new characters. Or even if they don’t die all at once but then through the magic of flashbacks we find out what they have been doing.)
Character-specific theories
I do think Kattigan has probably lost his wife and daughter(s). I’m not convinced they are dead though. I think something else could’ve happened that means he can no longer see them. Probably this happened recently, or at least since Teor and him last saw each other frequently.
Tyranny I bet is going to go on a character arc struggling against her demon nature which gives her the urge to cause pain, and probably something more specific-perhaps specifically situations in which she is jealous of human love-and learning to understand then control those urges. I think in part there’s going to be a little bit more of a reckoning with the other characters as they actually understand that she’s only been in the human world for six months. I think that will lead to more compassion and understanding and that will help her grow.
I’m really excited for what feels like an inevitable Thimble crash-out. At some point Thjazi’s death is properly going to hit her. I wonder if it will come when they return to their hideout she was attacked in.
Julien and Occtis I think are going to eventually come to an understanding but I think something strange is going to predicate it. Not even their values lining up, but a really weird circumstance.
Thaisha is absolutely going to have to deal with more druids not wholly trusting what she did. But, I’ve seen the way Aabria plays and that confident statement that her family has never done anything wrong is begging to be disproven. No, the Lloys aren’t a Sundered House, but they hold respect in the city and some measure of power. Afterall, there is the Lloy wing of the Arcanade. I’m so excited both to find out what shady shit they did in the past, and to watch Aabria act her socks off when Thaisha also learns.
Vaelus is so mysterious and I’m excited to learn more about her. I do think that at this moment she’s not really able to separate her grief at loosing her sister (and other siblings?) from loosing Sylandri. I think in the future she’s going to have a reckoning about what it actually is that she is mourning. At least in her flashbacks it seems like she might not necessarily have been the most faithful and intentional worshiper, but she just grew up in a community where there was no other choice; that was the way of life. I actually would really love to see her talk with Murray and Dr Talter both about other ways to access magic. Maybe there’s something in there for her growth.
General worldbuilding notes
Thjazi told Hal that warlocks were being outlawed in that cold open flashback and I think there was mention in the overturn of the same. That seems like a straightforward way that the Sundered houses—all houses of sorcerers—are trying to limit who has magic and thus who has the power to stand against their power. But I wonder if there’s something more. Pascard had a warlock contract as a Drowned Man that allowed him to escape the grasp of the Tachonis in death. I wonder what the other Sundered Houses are up to that would make warlocks in particular a threat to them.
I’m so interested in the Penteveral as a new institution of magic. And the fact that even simple cantrips like message were seen as nearly impossible to learn gives some really cool implications for the newness of wizardry. It really feels like a research institution more than just a college and that’s super exciting. I wanna see all the wild stuff these PhD wizards are finding out. And of course, I look forward to the student rebellion against the Sundered Houses trying to impose their will on the university. There’s no way that the student body is going to take it laying down.
And then the Arcanade. I love museums and there’s always such weird, cool stuff down in the archives that are just waiting to find the right exhibit to display them. Like universities, I think there’s going to be some good quiet rebellions among the staff. (Echoing real life in both cases.) Not to mention I am very excited to find out what strange items are lurking in there. Just a small hope, but I’m watching campaign 1 at the moment and really enjoying all Taliesin’s ideas for Percy’s creations; I hope Brennan lets him have fun with what strange items Bolaire has access to in the archives. I love when players get to obviously influence the world and Taliesin always seems so good at it.
I’m really hoping that the Sea Door will mean underwater adventures. Brennan is really good at running combats in three dimensions (Starstruck and Cloudward Ho especially, but the Intrepid Heroes are always fighting people in the sky) so I know he would be able to run a really cool underwater battle.
The Golden Orchard feels like a big mystery, too. My guess is that the fae closed the doors to faerie to preserve what they have in response to something sudden and dangerous and I think the fae at the Golden Orchard may have, too. I’m actually kinda hoping that the Royce family and everyone else at the Golden Orchard escaped into the demiplane, closed the door, and hid the entrance. I think that would be a way to keep them safe while allowing the PCs to not actually know for sure and have some worry, plus a puzzle to figure out how to reopen the gateway when it is safe again.
Just in general, I’m hoping that when they explore one of the other Barrowdells there will be rolls on the wild magic table similar to what Matt had them do in Eiselcross. A little bit of chaos is very fun.
Okay this has killed some good time on my flight and I can’t think of any other major musings right now. I’ll just end with my theory that all three tables won’t actually converge back in Dol’Makjer. I think the Soldiers will pass through and Thimble, Teor, and perhaps one other will set out for the Golden Orchard. Then they will cross paths with the Seekers on their way back and Julien will go with them while the others go back towards the city.
